Liberals have succeeded at sparking conversation on electoral reform with a new online survey, but it’s likely not the kind of chatter they were anticipating.

The government’s just-launched website, MyDemocracy.ca, was criticized by opposition parties in the House of Commons Monday and mocked online.

The site asks Canadians to answer more than 30 questions on the “values” and “preferences” they want reflected in their voting system, such as if they agree or disagree that “a ballot should be easy to understand, even if it means voters have fewer options to express their preferences.”

But both New Democrats and Conservatives who served on the all-party electoral reform committee suggested the Vox Pop Labs survey can’t be taken seriously because it doesn’t ask about specific voting systems or whether Canadians feel a referendum is needed before things can change.

“The first rule of engagement the Liberals should learn is not to treat Canadians like they’re stupid,” Nathan Cullen, NDP critic for democratic reform, said in question period.

Cullen noted that Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef blasted the committee’s report last week because it wasn’t “specific enough” for her. The report called for a proportional system and a referendum to gauge the interest of Canadians.

“Yet today we see a pop-psych survey from this minister and there’s no mention of electoral systems whatsoever,” Cullen said.

"The first rule of engagement the Liberals should learn is not to treat Canadians like they’re stupid"— NDP MP Nathan Cullen

Monsef responded that research has shown that a “values-based approach” is the best way to have an inclusive discussion about electoral reform.

“Should there be more diversity in this House? Should there be smaller parties representing a diverse range of voices or should we have larger parties representing a broad set of perspectives? Should voting be mandatory and online? These are the questions we’re asking,” she said.

“It feels like being on a dating website designed by Fidel Castro. No matter how hard you try to be against the prime minister’s preferred electoral system, the survey tells you that you really do support it,” Reid said. “It’s like magic.”

"It feels like being on a dating website designed by Fidel Castro."— Tory MP Scott Reid

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has in the past expressed a personal preference for a ranked ballot system of voting. Tories and New Democrats have accused Liberals of only wanting electoral reform to usher in Trudeau’s favourite system.

Reid noted that the questionnaire does not ask Canadians if they want a referendum.

“I wonder why that might be. Would it be because the Liberals don’t want to know the answer to that particular question?” he asked.

But the digs from Cullen and Reid paled in comparison to what was happening on Twitter Monday afternoon with the hashtag: #RejectedERQs.

Users suggested absurd or simplistic questions Liberals could have asked instead, in order to set the stage for bringing in ranked ballots or abandoning their campaign pledge to move beyond the first-past-the-post system in time for the next election.

Here are some of the more popular tweets:

"Do you think the seat count in the HoC should reflect the nationwide popular vote, even if it unleashes deadly plague?" #rejectedERQs